Indian Sloppy Joes

This recipe was born out of wanting to make another recipe and not having most of the ingredients, but I have to say, it turned out better than I would have ever imagined!  This is good on a nice big roll, on top of a baked potato, wrapped up in a tortilla, or just by itself!  I think it would make a great dip as well.  It is really addictive, thank goodness it’s really healthy!

One of those tastes better than it looks recipes!

Indian Sloppy Joes

• 1 C brown lentils
• 3 C water
• 4 Asian eggplants (the long slender ones), chopped
• ½ tsp garam marsala (optional)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tsp EVOO
• 1 tsp ginger, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2-3 tsp good quality curry powder
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes (more if you like it spicy)
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• ¼ tsp smoked paprika
• 16 oz crushed tomatoes in sauce
• Handful of matchstick carrots
• Salt to taste

1. Put the first four ingredients in a pressure cooker (I used my Instant Pot ) and cook for 20 minutes.  If you don’t have a pressure cooker, bring the water to a boil add the lentils and eggplant, cooking until soft, about 20 minutes.  Add water as necessary.
2. Once the lentils and eggplant are cooked, mash (I used a potato masher).
3. Put  oil in bottom of wok or other large pan.  Once it is hot, add the onions, cooking until browned, about 5 minutes. 
4. Add the spices and cook 2 more minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes and carrots.  Continue cooking for about 5 minutes.
6. Add the bean mixture from the pressure cooker and cook 15 more minutes on low.  

Submitted To:

MMMM
Veggie Converter
Just Another Meatless Monday
my meatless mondays
Hearth and Soul
Tasty Tuesday - FTLOB

Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream - A Review and a Giveaway!

One of my favorite foods is Thai food! Over the past few years I’ve started cooking it more and more often. One of the biggest problems I face when cooking Thai food is coconut milk. Most recipes call for it, but few use a full can. This has always been a problem for me. Sure I could freeze the leftovers, but they usually end up getting pushed to the back of the freezer and sitting there until they finally get tossed. I could use coconut extract, but I always felt that I would lose some of the “essence” of the coconut milk that way.

Well, I discovered that Tropical Traditions has a great solution to my problem! They sell Coconut Cream Concentrate, which is certified organic whole coconut meat in concentrated form. Just 1 teaspoon of this cream mixed with 6-8 oz water gives you coconut milk, or you can use it alone as a non-dairy creamer for your coffee or as an addition to your morning smoothie! I’m thinking I may use it in ice cream recipes that call for heavy cream! 


I tried it out in this recipe for Lower Fat Thai Peanut Sauce – I added a little bit more water to mine, because I was having mine over salad greens and wanted it to mix easily. I also cooked my tofu in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, water and chili garlic sauce (1 T each). If you’re new to cooking tofu – don’t forget to press it before putting the marinade on! It will soak up a lot more that way.

The coconut cream worked great in this recipe – I went ahead and put in a full teaspoon, since I like the rich coconut flavor. It’s such a great deal when you compare it to the cost of coconut milk as well – it usually runs from $1.50-2.50 a can, and I’m pretty sure this one jar is going to last me well over a year! No more realizing I don’t have any coconut milk at the last minute or having to use all that room in the pantry to store the cans.


BUY IT: You can buy Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil here. It's currently on sale!


WIN IT: One lucky winner will win their own 32 oz bottle of coconut cream!  Open to US and Canada

Contest ends July 5th at midnight EST

Don't forget to check out my other giveaways here!

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It's Summer - Cucumber Sandwiches!

I don't know about you, but summer is in full force here.  We're already reaching temps close to 100, and the heat index makes it well above that!  Because of that, I'm not cooking as much.  For one thing, when it's hot outside I don't eat as much, and for another thing, I mostly eat lighter fare that to me just isn't as exciting to post about.  

For example, this week I've been eating cucumber sandwiches, one of my favorite summertime meals.  I've got a mixture of equal parts cream cheese and guacamole with some finely chopped olives for the spread there, and on the other side I have sprouts, cucumber slices, and a red pepper spread.  Pair with roasted potatoes and you have a great meal!

Good?  Yes!  Super-cool recipe to post?  No!  I hope to be posting some recipes this summer, but it may not be every week.  I hope you understand!

So we spent our weekend either inside or in the water, which led to a lack of photo taking.  

How about your weekend?  Do anything exciting?  

Meatless Monday - Veggie Ravioli with peppers and onions

This weekend my In-Laws were kind enough to keep Little Miss for the weekend.  It was nice to have some adult time.  I got to go to a bar-b-q on the beach, see an old friend from high school, and even go to a wine festival in a nearby town!  It's been a long time since I've really done something for myself.

I was amazed by all of the wines at the festival.  It was impossible to even try most of them!  However, we had a great time and I learned about some wines I had never even heard of before.  I also got to try some wines that have been on my "need to try list" for a long time.  


When I got home, it was late and I was ready for a quick, easy meal.

1. Cook ravioli according to package directions
2. In the meantime, saute onions, adding the peppers towards the end.  
3. When ravioli is done, drizzle with olive oil (I used my Garlic Gold) and top with veggies.
4. I sprinkled some nutritional yeast on top as well!

MMMM
Veggie Converter
Just Another Meatless Monday
my meatless mondays
Hearth and Soul
Tasty Tuesday - FTLOB
Full Plate Thursday

Mexicali Black-Eyed Pea Patties

These patties are some of the best things I've made in a while - I thought they were great!  I served them on a tortilla with a spicy sour cream, spinach, and sprouts.  They were very easy to put together as well!  If you're looking for something with some spice and fresh flavors, give them a try.  

     Mexicali Black-Eyed Pea Patties

• 1 ½ C Black-Eyed Peas
• ¼ C diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• ¾ C bell pepper, chopped (I used a yellow one)
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 2 tsp chipotle peppers in adobe sauce
• ¼ C pancake batter
• ¼ C bread crumbs
• 1 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp salt

1. Mash black eyed peas, leaving some of the peas intact.
2. In the meantime, sauté the onion, garlic, ginger, and bell pepper in a little EVOO. 
3. Add the sautéed veggies to the black-eyed peas mixture and mix. 
4. Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.
5. Chill mixture for one hour, and then form patties.
6. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Patties can also be frozen to heat later.  

Submitted to:

MMMM
Veggie Converter
Just Another Meatless Monday
my meatless mondays
Hearth and Soul
Tasty Tuesday - FTLOB

Philadelphia Cooking Creme Vegetarian Recipes

Last weekend we were able to host a House Party for Philadelphia Cooking Creme.  It worked out really well, because the quick and easy recipes were perfect for getting dinner ready quickly for a large crowd after the Mardi Gras parades.  I converted to of the recipes to make them vegetarian, so I'm sharing them below!

Mushroom Florentine Casserole

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Meatless Monday - Sometimes Simple is Good!

We've had a really busy weekend here.  Dinner party on Saturday, and the Mardi Gras parade on Sunday.
So today I imagine I'll be eating pretty simple foods.  This is an incredibly easy dish to make, and it's also healthy and good!

Simple Asian Stir Fry

Saute some broccoli slaw in a little sesame oil.  Serve over rice (I used red rice), and top with a little of your favorite sauce - I used a miso teriyaki.

Super easy and fast!  Especially if you're already cooking the rice for something else.

Happy Monday!  I hope you'll join our blog hop today!

Asian Salad - Meatless Monday

Last week I had a post on making a ground beef substitute, so this week I'm going to give you a great recipe to use it in!  This is based on an Asian Lettuce Wrap recipe, but I simply made it into a salad.  I love the spiciness of the "meat" contrasting with the coolness of the salad!

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Ground Beef Substitute

In case you haven't noticed, there are a LOT of recipes out on the internet that call for ground beef.  As a vegetarian, you can either ignore all of those recipes or come up with other things to put in place of the beef.  They sell faux crumbles at the store, but I'm not a fan of overly processed food, and question if they are any healthier than meat.  
That's why I was thrilled when I saw that Veggie Converter had posted a recipe for ground beef substitute.  I had to give it a try!  I made some changes to make it my own, and here is what I came up with.  I was very pleased with how it turned out - it's not "meaty" tasting, but it has the right consistency to use in recipes that call for hamburger.  

Ground Beef Substitute

• 2 C Brown or Red Rice
• 2 C Green or Brown lentils
• 2 Tbsp. steak seasoning (I used McCormick's Santa Fe spice blend instead of a steak seasoning)
• 1/8 C olive oil
• 1/8 C steak sauce
• 1/4 C diced sauteed or marinated mushrooms
• 1/4 C vital wheat gluten
• 1 C rolled oats, chopped (I used a coffee grinder)

Cook rice, lentils and steak seasoning until slightly soft (I put them in my rice cooker on brown rice setting).  Be sure there is no excess water when done.  Mash slightly with a potato masher - leave it chunky though!  This step gave it a great texture in my opinion.  Combine with remaining ingredients, mashing some more if needed.  Spread into a large pan and bake at 300F for 1 hour, stirring at least every 15 minutes to evenly dehydrate mixture. Store in portion-sized freezer bags. It will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week or freezer until used.



This makes a lot!  This time around I put the entire mixture in one casserole dish - I think next time I will use two dishes to let it cook better.  I've used this in one recipe so far with great results!  I use 2 and 1/2 cups of this mixture to equal a pound of ground beef.  

Meatless Monday - Tofu Chili

Ready to eat!

This recipe is perfect for a cold winter day!  It also comes together pretty quickly.  I got the recipe off of an e-mail from Nasoya, and didn't do much to change it.  I used fire roasted crushed tomatoes and a green pepper instead of a red pepper.  I added a peeled and diced turnip that I needed to use up - if I hadn't done this, I probably would have added some mushrooms.    I also only used half of a 14 oz block of tofu, which I pressed.

These are the sauteed veggies and tofu before I added the tomatoes.  

Meatless Monday - Vegan Sausages

I wanted to try using vital wheat gluten for a long time before I did.  However, I was a little nervous as well.  The original recipes I saw involved lots of steps and boiling things in broth and the reviews always had extremely mixed results.  However, eventually a batch of recipes cropped up that seemed not so difficult, and people were getting good results!  I finally decided to take the plunge, and used this as my base recipe:

Pasta with Peppers and Sausage

I added a roasted red pepper and a ton of basil, since these were things I had on hand that needed using up.   I also changed the spices up a little in an attempt to get spicier results.

To make the sausages, you combine all of the dry ingredients in one container, and all of the wet ingredients in another container.  This is done to ensure that the ingredients are mixed well, since once the liquid hits the vital wheat gluten it gets clumpy and a lot harder to mix.

Once the wet and dry ingredients are mixed together, scoop it out and put into tin foil.  Roll into a hotdog shape, and then steam for 40 minutes.  I have to say, these turned out really great!  Next time I'll make them a little spicier, but the texture turned out really good and the flavor was good as well.

You can slice these and saute them, or eat like hot dogs.  

Meatless Monday - Moroccan Carrot Cakes

These tasty patties work as a sandwich filling or as a side dish.  Use the food processor to shred the carrot and the onion and this comes together very quickly! 

Ingredients:

·         5 medium carrots, shredded (about 2 cups)

·         1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

·         3 tablespoons flour

·         2 tablespoons cornmeal

·         1 egg, lightly beaten

·         2 tablespoons milk (or half and half, or sour cream)

·         1 teaspoon garam masala

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         1/4 teaspoon baking powder

·         1/4 teaspoon black pepper

·         2 tablespoons margarine or butter

·         1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

1.    In a medium bowl, mix the carrots, onion, flour, corneal, egg, milk, garam masala, salt, baking powder and pepper. Shape the mixture into 8 patties about 1 1/2" thick. Transfer to a platter, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This will keep up to 12 hours.

2.    Heat the margarine and the oil in a heavy 10" skillet until sizzling, about 1 minute. Turn heat down to medium . Brown the patties for 5-8 minutes on each side. Drain on a platter lined with paper towels, then serve immediately. 

CSA Cooking - Brown Sugar-Glazed Beets

This was my first time cooking beets and they were wonderful! I used a mixture of beets and turnips in mine. I love the vibrant red color!

Brown Sugar-Glazed Beets

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Meatless Monday - Ridiculously Easy Curried Chickpeas and Quinoa

This Ridiculously Easy Curried Chickpeas and Quinoa is a great meal for a busy weeknight!  I used cooked dried beans, because I had the time to make them.  Other than that, the recipe came together in less than 20 minutes with pantry staples, making it both easy and cheap!

I was out of quinoa, so I used one small bag (the 2 serving size) of minute rice instead.  I omitted the onion because I didn't have any on hand, but I did add onion flakes when I added the tomatoes.  I also added fresh peppers when I added the tomatoes, simply because I had some I needed to use up.  The ginger and curry really shine in this recipe, so don't leave them out, and use a good quality curry powder!

CSA Cooking - Tomato and Ravioli Collard Soup

This soup comes together quickly, and is a delicious way to use up some greens!  Feel free to substitute any type of greens you like into the soup.

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Meatless Monday - Mediterranean Sundried Tomato and Garlic Veggies

Last week when I received a seasoning mix from Lawry’s in the mail, it couldn’t have come at a better time.  It had been one of those weeks when no matter what I could not get inspired to cook anything.  

Instead of using chicken as they suggested, I used three small squash, a head of broccoli, and a package of baby bella mushrooms.  I loved the fact that I didn’t have to cook the pasta ahead of time (just used 1 ¼ cup pasta and the same amount of water).  I also had some black olives and a can of fire-roasted tomatoes in there.  

It turned out delicious!  I sprinkled some feta on mine, but if you wanted to go vegan I imagine it would still be delicious.  I also think instead of using the spice packet you could use some spices, powdered garlic and onion, and some sundried tomatoes.

What is on your menu this week?

What's Cooking Wednesday - Sweet Potato Kale Quesadillas

This recipe was inspired by one of my friends from college, who was talking about a burrito she had a Juan's Flying Burrito in NOLA. Since sweet potatoes and kale are in season right now, I thought it was a great time to post it! 

All measures are approximate; it was one of those throw - together meals but so delicious!

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CSA Cooking - Red Curry with Turnips

Not being able to pick and choose the vegetables you get each week can lead to interesting combinations.  This is one of the things I have loved about the CSA - trying things in ways that I never would have before!  
I had been craving red curry for a while, but wasn’t sure which vegetables I wanted to put in it.  When I got a single turnip in my CSA box and ended up with a bunch of broccoli from a gathering at my house, I decided that that would make the vegetable base for my curry.  I had no idea how it would turn out, but I really liked it!  

Thai Red Curry with Vegetables

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CSA Cooking - Hot Creamed Pea Dip

Since peas are not one of my favorite foods, using the cream peas I got in my CSA box have been challenging.  However, I joined a CSA with the intention of trying things I normally wouldn’t eat, so I was determined to find a way to fix them that I liked!  I was inspired by a recipe from Bon Appetit for Black Eyed Pea Hot Dip.  Here is my version below - I think it turned out great!  I have since served this dip at several parties and have gotten rave reviews each time.  

Hot Creamed Pea Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/2 cups cream peas (or other peas)
• 3 oz cream cheese, softened (I used veggie cream cheese)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chipolte chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar

1. Pulse the peas and garlic in a food processor until smooth.
2. Add the spices and cream cheese, process to blend.
3. Stir in the salsa (I also added some finely chopped banana peppers at this point).
4. Pour mixture into a 8” square casserole dish and sprinkle with cheese.
5. Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is bubbly, 20-25 minutes.

This makes a very tasty dip.  Adjust the chili/cayenne to suit your tastes.  I also used the dip as a quesadilla filling, along with some fresh spinach - it worked great!

CSA Cooking - Balsamic-Glazed Chickpeas With Mustard Greens

This week brought another vegetable that, although common in the South, I’ve never been a big fan of – Mustard Greens.  Like most vegetables I grew up not caring for, I figured it was probably because of the Southern method of cooking many items.  Southerners tend to like to cook things for long periods of time, which is not a cooking method that I am fond of.

Fortunately for me, Susan over at Fatfree Vegan had a delicious sounding recipe for Balsamic-Glazed Chickpeas and Mustard Greens.

Other than using a sweet onion instead of a red onion and brown sugar instead of agave nectar, I stayed true to her recipe.  It turned out delicious!  This is definitely one of those that depends on the quality of balsamic you use.  It’s also really easy to prepare – the only hard part is making sure those greens are clean.  It’s amazing how much dirt comes out of them. 

If you’re looking for a great way to prepare greens, I highly recommend you give this a try.